1968 U-1 Miss Budweiser

Reprinted from Skid Fin Magazine, 2003, Volume 1 Number
2.

The newest member of the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum’s fleet
is the 1968 Miss Budweiser. The ’68 Bud (the sixth Miss Budweiser)
was designed and built by Seattle’s Ed Karelsen and is an exact
copy of the 1967/1968 National Champion Miss Bardahl. The 1968
Budweiser was first driven by Bill Sterett Sr., who won the Gold
Cup and National Championship in 1969.

The ’68 Budweiser is the only surviving Karelsen round-bowed
unlimited. Five boats of this design were built in the late 1960s,
and they dominated unlimited racing from 1967 to 1971, wining four
Gold Cups and five National Championships.

In 1970, Dean Chenoweth took over the cockpit, drove the boat to
a victory in the 1970 Gold Cup and claimed the National
Championship. That same year boat builder Ed Karelsen, the
Budweiser team and Chenoweth took part in one of the most amazing
accomplishments in the history of boat racing. On July 19 in the
first heat of the 1970 Atomic Cup in Tri-Cities, Washington, the
Miss Budweiser dove nose-first in rough water on the second lap.
The accident tore away 10 feet of the Budweiser’s bow and ripped
the deck all the way back to the model well. It also sent the boat
tot he bottom of the Columbia River and driver Dean Chenoweth to
the hospital.

After the race the boat was salvaged and taken back to Seattle.
Starting on the morning of July 20, 1970, the Budweiser crew, let
by crew chief George McKernan, worked around the clock with builder
“Fast” Eddie Karelsen to repair the boat. By Friday, July 31, the
damaged boat was repaired, repainted, and back in the pits.
Chenoweth, nursing a sprained left arm, qualified the boat, and on
Sunday, August 2, 1970, he won the race. Local newspapers heralded
the achievement with headlines that read, “From Columbia’s Bottom
to Seafair’s Top” and “Miss Bud Resurfaces to Win!”

Chenoweth won the National Championship with the Miss Budweiser
team again in 1971. In 1972, Chenoweth moved to the Notre Dame, and
Terry Sterett, Bill Sterett’s son, became the first driver to
compete in a hull previously driven by his father.

The boat was retired in 1973 and eventually sold. She appeared
briefly in 1974 as the Country Boy and then n 1975 as the first
Miss Vernor’s. The boat was later bought back by Anheuser-Busch,
repainted as the Miss Budweiser, and given to the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway Foundation. It was displayed at the Indy Museum of
Speed for a short time but was moved into long-term storage. This
winter, the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum acquired the boat, and
she will not be on display at the Hydroplane Museum in Seattle.

The ’68 Bud is cosmetically in beautiful shape and makes a
wonderful display. No decision has been make about restoring the
boat to running condition, but it’s fun to imagine this beautiful
gold and red boat streaking across Lake Washington.